Hawaii GI charged with bribery

The soldier allegedly took cash to steer a deal to a Kuwait firm

Associated Press

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. » A soldier from Hawaii is accused of taking a $50,000 bribe to steer a food service contract to a Kuwaiti company, according to an indictment unsealed yesterday.

Army Chief Warrant Officer Peleti "Pete" Peleti Jr., 39, of Hawaii is also accused of attempting to smuggle about $40,000 in undeclared cash into the United States on a December 2005 flight from Kuwait City to Dover, Del.

Prosecutors say Peleti took the bribe while at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, where he served as the Army's theater food service adviser for Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.

He is accused of steering a contract for paper products and plastic flatware away from a government contractor.

A telephone call to a listing for Peleti in Kapolei went unanswered last night.

He is to be arraigned Feb. 9 in federal court in Rock Island. He was charged in Illinois because he was serving in the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, overseen by an office at Rock Island Arsenal.

Peleti faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 if found guilty of accepting the bribe. He faces five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of cash smuggling.